Chapter 4

NCIS Headquarters:

"Where's Angel?" Cordelia asked, sitting down next to Fred.

"He went down to see the body. Said something about making sure the victim hasn't vamped yet." Gunn answered, pointing his dagger behind his head, referring to the elevator behind the stairs.

"Fred, did you find anything about him in those books there?" Wesley asked, pointing to the stack of books by her elbow.

"No, I have only found references to Angelus. Also, a few mentioned a female vampire named Darla."

"Well, those I expected. Maybe Angel didn't sire this one. Alright, keep looking."

"I take it no luck on finding our latest fang face." Cordelia said.

"No, none at all."

Gunn quickly put away his dagger when Angel returned to the bullpen.

"Let's go."

Angel walked right passed them. They all stood and followed after him. He was on a mission. He wouldn't wait. Angel suddenly turned on Gunn, stopping him in his tracks.

"I want you down in the morgue while I get Gibbs and his team out of the building. You know what to do."

Gunn looked at him for a moment, a little annoyed that he was being left out of the hunting party. Then he understood. Angel we leaving it up to him to take care of their friend in autopsy.

"You got it."

"Fred, you stay with Gunn."

"Okay, Angel."

Angel turned and joined Cordelia and Wesley in the elevator. The three made their way to the car and waited patiently for Gibbs and his team to join them.

Five minutes later, Gibbs and his agents passed through the now empty squad room. The four of them grabbed their weapons.

"Your gut telling you something, Boss?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, it is, DiNozzo."

They left and met Angel outside.

Gunn and Fred watched from the stairwell as the NCIS team left. They then made their way down to the morgue. Before entering, Gunn whispered, "Fred, distract the M.E."

"I'll do my best."

The doors to autopsy hissed open, alerting Ducky that someone entered.

Dr. Mallard turned and upon seeing them said, "You two are not permitted down here without an NCIS escort."

Gunn looked sternly at Fred, silently telling her to start distracting.

"We're sorry. I asked Gunn to bring me down. I was hoping that maybe you could explain to me how an autopsy is performed. I…I am very interested in becoming a medical examiner."

"Oh…well, that's lovely. You know there aren't many female M.E.'s in this day and age. Not many women are able to handle the sights and smells of an autopsy. Come, dear girl. It's so refreshing to see young people so thirsty for knowledge."

"Thank you, doctor," Fred giggled and smiled as Ducky wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Come my boy. This may interest you too." Ducky said, leading Fred toward his office. He was planning on showing her one of his older and more interesting autopsies that he had recorded.

"Sorry, Doc. I'm a bit squeamish. I'll just wait here, thanks. You all can talk death." He smiled, waving them off. He feigned embarrassment.

Dr. Mallard said, "I can't leave you here unattended. You'll have to go back…"

"Understood. I'll take a nap upstairs. Angel won't be back for a few hours."

Ducky watched him leave, waited till the elevator doors slid closed and then he and Fred entered his office. He was already off on some story that he was reminded of about his youth.

Gunn waited in the elevator and re-entered the morgue after a few minutes. It was lucky that Angel doctored the autopsy security video. No one would know that he had ever been there.

He crossed the room to the far wall. He opened every cooler until he found the right victim. Time was almost up. She would vamp soon, and then there would be no body for the good doctor to send to the grieving family. Once he found the her, he separated her head from her body with the small axe he had been hiding in the elevator when he met up with the M.E.

He closed the cooler and returned to the bullpen. The task too less than two minutes. No one would know who had done it, but at the very least, the family would have a body to bury. Why her head was detached would be the least of their worries.

Next Morning in the Bullpen:

Angel and his team spent the night at NCIS. Wesley and Gunn worked on Angels wounds. During the night, Gunn reported his deed to Angel. Angel made sure to fix the video so that it was running normally. He removed the loop he planted the night before. The five sat together all night talking about what happened while Angel, Wesley and Cordelia were out. They searched more books and made plans to find his next target area.

By morning, Angel's lacerations were healed and closed.

"You have no imagination, Ziva." Tony said, laughing.

"I have imagination, Tony. But my imagination is reserved for ideas that might actually happen. The idea of vampires being real is just too out there. And besides…don't you think that it would be a very dangerous world if they did exist?"

"It would be so cool, Ziva. I can just see them walking around in the nineteenth century suits, top hats and canes with tails on their coats."

Ziva looked at him as though he had lost his mind. The two of them had reached the bullpen. Neither of them noticed they were being watched.

"Oh come on, Ziva."

She inclined her head, shaking it slightly. She was completely confused by his strange vision of what a vampire looked like. He was very specific. "Is that how vampires are supposed to be dressed."

"Interview with a Vampire, great movie by the way. Tom Cuise and Brad Pitt. Tom Cruise plays the suave Vampire Le Stat. You really need to get with the times. It was a great film."

"And you really need to get a life."

They heard giggling and turned to see Angel's entire team sitting behind them. They were smiling.

"Is that really how you see vampires?" Angel asked. He couldn't help but laugh. It was just so stupid.

If only they really knew what vampires were really like.

"You think this is funny?" Ziva asked, slightly embarrassed that she had been caught arguing with Tony childishly.

"Actually, I do."

McGee entered, wondering what everyone was laughing about and why Ziva looked prepared to kill.

"Did I miss something?"

"No, McGee. You did not."

Still smirking, Tony sat at his desk. He put his sig in the top drawer of his desk just like his boss did. He did a lot of things very much like his boss. He wanted to be just like Gibbs. He thought of him as a father figure. His own father was not the kind of man that you should emulate. He also knew that the things he did made Gibbs proud of him.

The elevator dinged and they saw Gibbs exist, looking pissed. Just as he reached the squad room, Jenny Sheppard stopped at the top of the stairs to watch the scene unfold below her.

Angel remained in his seat, well away from the windows as Gibbs approached. Gibbs looked extremely agitated. He had gotten little sleep. He spent most of the time working on his boat. He was pissed. He stood over Angel fuming, his coffee in one hand.

"Oh, this is gonna be bad." Tony whispered to his colleagues who had gathered around his desk, steering clear of Gibbs wrath.

"Should we call for Ducky?"

"Why?" McGee asked Ziva.

"In case Gibbs shoots him."

The three agents exchanged a quiet chuckle.

"Answers! Now!" Gibbs yelled.

"You'll have to be more specific."

The Gibbs glare was thrown and he said, "Don't play games with me!"

"You ask a question and you might get an answer, Agent Gibbs. I'm not a mind reader." Angel said calmly.

"You knew the man we were after all this time. Why didn't you tell us about him before last night?"

"I can answer that," Wesley said, "We don't freely share information with other departments. We learned the hard way that when we give a little, we get nothing in return."

Gibbs understood that. He had dealt with that many times when dealing with the FBI, DEA, CIA, and Secret Service. He just hated dealing with it. He liked to be read in on every case he is working. He doesn't care if it is classified or not. If it pertains to his case, he wants to know.

"Who is he?"

Angel had to be careful not to give too much information. If he gave too much, Gibbs was sure to look the man up. He would find that the man has been dead for decades.

"His name is Shane. We don't know his last name. We don't really know much about him."

"Age? Race? Date of birth? Parents? Siblings? Do you have anything on this guy?"

"Not really. He is twenty eight. He used to live in Dublin, Ireland. He moved here couple years ago. As far as we know he has no siblings and no living parents. We know that he's not military."

"So, he was born in Ireland. That narrows it down."

Gibbs moved to his desk and was ready to tell McGee to find someone that fit the description they got on the man last night, when Angel interrupted him.

"I said he lived in Dublin, Agent Gibbs. That is not where he was born. I already checked. We don't know where he was born. Like I said. We don't know much about him."

"He said that he wasn't the only one. What does he mean?"

Wesley looked at Angel. He could see he was working up the right way to convey the answer without revealing too much about what Shane really was.

"I'm not sure. I assume that he probably has accomplices. Or perhaps he was just referring to how even if we catch him, there will always be another murderer out there after him."

"How long have you been chasing him? He called you hero and had a more familiar decorum with you. He knows you." Gibbs said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Yes, he knows me. I have been chasing him for two months. I get so close, and then he escapes again. He knows I'll save the woman over running to catch him."

Now was time for the big question that had worried him all night. "What did he mean when he said 'you knew all about how it felt.'"

Tony, Tim, and Ziva watched closely. Ziva knew that meant he had killed before. She of course knew what killing a man felt like, but she was trained in Mossad for that. Gibbs had killed, but he was a marine. He was a part of the military. Her comrades had killed, but only in the line of duty. What was in this guys past that allowed him to kill.

Angel was quiet. He had no logical reason to kill that would appease the ex-marine. Gibbs watched him intently. He was stalling. He was conjuring a lie. Got him.

"I think maybe there is more to this than I originally thought. You're good. I'll give you that. I wouldn't have thought you would join forces with a killer, but you're good. You keep your answers brief and to the point. Your answers are vague when you do give them and you use your skills to put people off. You scare a lot of people don't you. I would have never thought that you were in it with him."

"What?" Cordelia shrieked.

"It was a nice touch bringing in this team of yours. Threw us off. Their just kids. What killer would be surrounded by this bunch?"

"Have you lost your mind?" Gunn asked, standing behind Angel.

"Tony, arrest them all. I want them kept here. Read them their rights. I want them kept separate. I'll question them all individually, starting with Cordelia." Gibbs said evenly, staring Angel in the eyes when he said the last part.

"You got it, Boss."

Tony started reading them their rights and the others started cuffing them. No one fought. Angel gave them a signal, telling them not to resist. The agents would only get hurt. That was not why there were here.

Gibbs called Abby to warn her that new evidence would be coming her way. He had McGee gather all of the things that Angel's team had brought with them. This game ended here and now. He looked up at the director. She smiled and knew that he had everything under control.

He watched as she went back to her office and then turned on the plasma. He watched as the members of Angel's team were placed in different interrogation rooms. He would get his answers now. The ball was in his court.